Ears are fascinating! Obviously they let us hear the world around us, but do you know why we have two ears, and not one, five, or forty?!

Your body is a finely tuned ‘machine’ and ears are designed to pick up sound from all around you…

When you have hearing loss in one ear, it can be hard to hear some noises – or know where they’re coming from – whether behind you, in front of you or to your side.

Having two ears allows you to know where a sound is coming from – it’s something called localisation! Like when you hear a siren coming closer from a certain direction – you know where it’s coming from and to get out of the way.

And another reason why it’s better having two ears is so we hear sounds around us more clearly!

If you’ve ever had a radio with a broken speaker, you’ll know that even if you can still hear the music, it’s not as loud or clear, and can even sound a bit odd… Just try listening to Fun Kids with one speaker! I bet it doesn’t sound nearly as great!

This is the same for our ears – with two ears picking up sounds from our environment, you get an equal amount of sounds from the left and the right.

Plus, having two ears offers a bit of cushion because the sounds are divided between them both. Loud noises aren’t good for your ears but having two of them makes it possible to tolerate them more…

Hallux’s Hearing Helpdesk is now open and is answering all of your hearing questions!